User-created list
List One
Across 2 pages
of 2
About this list
The names
Harper
English
"harp player"
You might think of Harper as the hottest name of the last decade, jumping from obscurity to the Top 10, where it remained until last year. Victoria and David Beckham's choice of Harper for their…
Nora
Diminutive of Honora or Eleonora, Latin
"honor or meaning unknown"
Nora is a lovely, refined name that conjures up images of Belle Epoch ladies in fur-trimmed coats skating in Central Park. Long seen as a quintessentially Irish name though its roots are not in…
Isla
Scottish place-name or Spanish
"island"
Isla is a hit name throughout the English-speaking world but hasn't found the same popularity in other western countries, perhaps because its spelling and pronunciation don't make sense for those…
Scarlett
English
"scarlet, red"
Scarlett Johansson is doing more for this sparky southern name than Scarlett O'Hara ever did. Since the turn of the 21st century, Scarlett has gone from an obscure literary name to one of the most…
August
German form of Latin Augustus
"great, magnificent"
The name August is at its highest point since the 1890s, when it ranked among the Top 100 boy names in the US – and deservedly so. With its great meaning, historic roots, and cool nicknames, 2024 saw…
Vivienne
French variation of Vivian
"life"
Vivienne is an elaborated Gallic version of the name Vivian, chosen first by Rosie O'Donnell for her daughter and then catapulted to superstardom when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie used it for their…
Presley
English
"priest's meadow"
Presley is a much more popular name for little girls than you might think, entering the charts as a girls' name in 1998 and hovering around Number 200 for the last decade. Presley is one of a large…
Lana
English diminutive of Alana
"rock or handsome"
Popularized in the 1940s by Lana (born Judy) Turner, today Lana is synonymous with American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. Although it has been rising steadily since the early 2000s, Lana still sits…
Porter
English from French occupational name
"doorkeeper or carrier"
It may surprise you to know that surname name Porter was fairly popular in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries, then went underground for 40 years only to reemerge at the turn of this century…
Orson
Latin and English
"bear cub"
In the past, Orson has felt like a one-person moniker, tied to film director Orson Welles, who dropped his given name of George in favor of his more distinctive middle. While the Citizen Kane creator…
Ralston
English
"Ralph's settlement"
Down-to-earth surname name with a drawl, also associated with cereal and dog food.
Rennon
English surname, meaning unknown
Unusual surname occasionally used as a first.
Riss
Joslyn
Spelling variation of Jocelyn, German
"member of the Gauts tribe"
Much less popular than the original spelling of Jocelyn, though still given to over 100 baby girls in the US last year. While it might be tempting to go with this more phonetic spelling, we recommend…
Kirby
English
"church settlement"
Unisex name around for several decades for boys and now ripe for girls.
Kyrbe
Darby
Irish, English, Norse
"free from envy; from the deer estate"
Once a common boy name in Ireland, the dynamic Darby now has a definite unisex feel. A bit like a mash up between Darcy and Ruby, it appeared in the US Top 1000 in the 90s, peaking in 1995 when it…
Halston
Althea
Greek
"with healing power"
Althea is a poetic, almost ethereal name found in Greek myth and pastoral poetry, associated in modern times with the great tennis player Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win at…
Wellesley
English
"the farm amonst the willows"
Even if you'd like your daughter to attend the venerable women's college, don't saddle her with this pretentious British surname.
